Video game industry sales surged 16 percent in April, thanks to increased supply of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox consoles, according to market research firm NPD Group.
Industry sales for the month were $699 million, up from $602 million in the same month of last year.
Video game accessories sales increased 19 percent to $82 million, up from $69 million last year, while hardware and software sales both increased 16 percent.
"Sales of pretty much everything increased, but hardware sales drove the industry because of greater availability Microsoft's Xbox, and software sales correspondingly increased," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said.
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Software sales for the month were $395 million, up from $341 million last year, with particularly strong sales of the Sony PlayStation 2 title, "Kingdom Hearts 2," and sales of Xbox title "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter." Hardware sales were $223 million, up from $192 million last year.